Lily Evans groaned as she was abruptly awoken by loud screaming on the lower level of her home. Turning so she was facing sideways, she pulled her pillow over her head to block out the sound of her…charming sister's shrill voice. But the silence the pillow supplied did not last long, for what seemed like two seconds later Petunia barged into her younger sister's room, fuming.
"LILY!" she screamed, causing Lily to jump out of bed. "What have I told you about keeping those darn owls out of this HOUSE!"
"Sorry, sorry," Lily begged, trying to console her distraught sister while wiping the sleep out of her emerald eyes. "I told all my friends not to send them, I don't know who did-."
"Sorry doesn't cut it, freak," Petunia spat, glaring at the red-head in front of her; Lily winced at the tone of her voice. "You don't understand; the stuff you do is weird and wrong to everyone else, and just because Mom and Dad think your precious doesn't mean everyone else does." And with that she stormed out the door.
Lily lay back down on her bed, sighing. In two weeks she'd be back at Hogwarts, her last year, hanging out with her friends and avoiding the Maurderer's; but those two weeks couldn't go fast enough.
Finally, it was September 1st, the day that Lily has waited all summer for. Jumping out of her father's car, she gave him and her mother a quick good-bye before running through the 9 ¾ barrier. She loved the sensation she got every time she went through it; like quickly transitioning from one world to another, with just a simple wall between them.
Weaving her way through the crowd, it didn't take her friends long to find the brilliant red-haired girl with the Head Girl badge pinned to her chest.
"Lily!" Alice Prewett squealed before throwing herself into her best friend's arms.
"Alice, nice to see you," Lily laughed as she spat some of Alice's short, mousy brown hair out of her mouth, nodding at their other friend, Mary McDonald. "How are you Mary?" She had heard that Mary's uncle, whom she was close to, had been murdered by Death Eaters in late July.
"Good," Mary grimaced, twisting a strand of her long blonde hair in her finger before releasing it. "Better than some, I suppose." Wincing, Lily now felt guilty. Compared to other people's summers, hers was a cake-walk.
"Oh my gosh," Alice said suddenly, trying to break the silence as the girls headed onto the train. "Lily, do you know who the Head Boy is? I heard you have to share a dorm."
"No I don't," Lily said, somewhat worried. The three top candidates were Amos Diggery, a guy she had gone on a date with which ended very badly; Grant Wood, whom she had a slight crush on for a few months, and Remus Lupin, one of the famous Maurderer's.
Finding an empty compartment, the girls settled down, Alice still talking about the Head Boy. "You better hope it's not Diggery, because then it's going to be super awkward," Alice rambled. "Or Remus for that matter; wherever he is, the others are sure to be with him. I hope its Grant Wood, for your sake. Wow that man is fine, I wouldn't mind sharing a dorm with him…" she trailed off.
"Eh-hem," Mary fake coughed. "Eh-Frank."
"I know," Alice said impatiently. Suddenly, her face lifted. "Did I tell you that I met his parents this summer? His father was very nice, his mother was quite odd though…"
"You guys are getting serious," Lily commented, leaning back against the seat.
"Yeah," Alice grinned with a dreamy expression.
"I wish I had a boyfriend," Mary said suddenly, frowning. "But no one dates tall girls." Lily and Alice laughed at this. Both being petite, they always laughed at Mary's insecurity with being taller than the other girls.
"Mary, you're gorgeous," Lily smiled genuinely, squeezing the other girl's hand who was sitting opposite her. "And I've seen many glances you've received from guys that you just seem to not see."
"Like Sirius Black," Alice piped in, giggling at Mary's disgusted face. Some people called the three girls the Anti-Maurderers.
"I would never even think about dating Sirius Black; the day I go out with Black is the day I get checked into the brain damaged floor at St. Mungo's- and possibly not even then."
"Speak of the devil…" Lily growled as a certain black headed seventeen year-old slid open the door to their compartment.
"Oi! Prongs, Moony, Wormtail!" Sirius Black shouted down the hallway before entering the girls' room. "I found them!"
"What do you want, Black?" Lily demanded as he sat down next to Mary, who glared at him.
"Just to sit with you lovely women on our last train ride to Hogwarts," Sirius shrugged innocently. "That's all." He glanced at himself in the window, very conspicuously, to check his reflection like he often did; his dark eyes were wide with interest, his dark curly hair lying perfectly to almost his shoulders.
Mary rolled her eyes at the guy sitting next to her, especially when he checked himself out in the mirror. But she had to admit he wasn't that bad looking; although his 'sexy grin' was unappealing to her, other girls simply turned to goo because of it, although James Potter's smirk definitely has him beat. He was muscular, but not too much to the point of being overly buff. His usual arrogant swagger made him look like a male model. But it was the insides that counted to Mary, and Sirius Black didn't fit her criteria.
"Why'd you have to call this lot in here," Lily complained as Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew entered the compartment.
"Nice to see you too Lily," Remus grinned, winking at her since James wasn't in the room.
Lily smiled at her former-fellow prefect. "Hello Remus, how was your summer?"
"Great," he replied as he sat down on the opposite side of Mary, Peter sitting on Alice's right. This caused Alice to move closer to Lily. "How was yours?" Lily never had a chance to reply, because at that moment, James Potter decided to make his entrance.